Taksura

334/1 Soi Dharmasaroja, Phayathai Rd., 02-215-8870. Open daily 6pm-1am
Second of the popular pub franchise, the 15-year-old Taksura Hua Chang stays true to its original design (or lack thereof) with its signature wooden house and vintage furniture. We heart its breezy garden area with a faux-colonial style fountain as a centerpiece. To guarantee your seat, head there early as the place gets packed nightly with hoards of uni students getting their fix of cheap drinks and glab gleam. The music sees the usual radio hits, but head here on Wed, Fri and Sat for some live acoustic.

The Tree House

334 Soi Dharmasaroja, Phayathai Rd., 086-326-8275. Open daily 6pm-1am
Situated at the entrance of a charming vintage home turned hostel, The Tree House greets its customers with a large, dimly lit garden and cast-iron gate. Despite the stately guest house, the indoor-patio, complete with mix-and-match furniture, a pool table and an in-house DJ that plays both indie pop and international tunes, blends in easily with the rest of the relaxed crowd on this street. Here, you can grab house wine (B120 per glass) or a fish dish (B250) for a decent price. Otherwise, they offer your typical pub-grub food and local draught beer, available in pitchers and towers.

Hua Chang

Soi Dharmasaroja, Phayathai Rd., 087-539-1012. Open daily 6pm-1am
Don’t bother looking for the sign, this place doesn’t have one. Like The Tree House, Hua Chang sits in a vintage house belonging to some old-time aristocrat. The outdoor area is the most spacious of all the bars so if you’re with a group of friends, it’s a perfect spot. The crowd here are a bit more mature, albeit the laid-back t-shirt and jeans type. Foodwise, try their bestsellers like larb salmon (B100) and grilled pork neck with salt (B80). Like Taksura, Hua Chang has also branched out to the nearby neighborhood with La Moon in Din Daeng and HEAP in Phayathai (both with the suffix “by Hua Chang”).

@Rajdhevee

342/3-4 Soi Dharmasaroja, Phaya Thai Rd. 02-611-1414. Open daily 6pm-midnight
Although we can’t recommend the food, which is primarily Thai and a few clichéd Indian plates—and its owner can be slightly over enthusiastic—the atmosphere itself is an appealing sort of Mughal Empire meets 21st century mass-tourism. The have live folk music on Fri-Sat at 8:30pm, but we suggest making use of their comfy, upstairs pillow-lounge and their quality selection of Belgian beers, perhaps for an after-dinner social. By Carissa Devine, photography Gregoire Glachant